


Moments of Friendship

by Leonawriter



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 09:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16216418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonawriter/pseuds/Leonawriter
Summary: Genesis can be an ass, and he can be entitled and privileged, but there are times when all that matters is that he's also someone's friend.





	Moments of Friendship

"Have you ever thought about what you want to do when you're older, Genesis?"  Gillian asks one day, out of the blue.

"I'm going to go to Midgar, and become SOLDIER, so I can become a proper hero, of course," he said around a slice of apple pie. 

"Which means I'm going to follow after him to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble.

Genesis rolled his eyes. 

"Of course. And it's not like  _you've_ never found yourself in trouble. Goddess forbid the thought."

He got shoved in the arm for saying that, because he didn't  _need_ to bring up the fact that they'd met when he'd found Angeal picking up fallen apples from the orchards, just like he didn't need to say how he knew that Angeal was  _still_ taking them when he thought no one was looking.

Or the fact that if Angeal would just put that pride of his aside, Genesis would just  _give_ him the damn apples. He  _wanted_ to. His family's trees had the best ones, after all, because they had the best soil, and they were looked after so well, and he was  _proud_ of them, so of  _course_ he wanted to share.

Angeal never asked, though.

Just like he knew Angeal  _wanted_ to go to Midgar. But without Genesis' parents paying the way for proper transport all the way there, he knew Angeal would just suck it up and take  _ages_. 

Angeal always was like that. 

And, honestly, sometimes Genesis wondered what his friend would do without him. 

...

"Have you even _had_ a sleepover before?"

It's his first time in his - and Angeal's - new on-site rooms, and Sephiroth, who'd followed them there, opened his mouth, a thoughtful expression on his face that Genesis was immediately suspicious of.

"Well, I-"

"And no, bunking in with several other SOLDIERs and sleeping in a tent in Wutai  _does not count._ "

The very fact that the kid his age that he was talking to and convincing into this, who was his  _friend_ , was the self-same hero who'd already  _fought_ in Wutai was something Genesis found easier to not think about when they weren't training.

Sephiroth shut his mouth, and if it weren't for the fascinatingly odd shape of his eyes, he could've been described as  _owlish,_ in the way he blinked.

"This is _Sephiroth_ , Gen. Of course he hasn't."

"And... what is one supposed to  _do_ on a sleepover? That's different from simply 'bunking in with several other SOLDIERs', as you put it."

Genesis waved a hand airily. 

"Oh, those are for work. You've got to room with them whether you like it or not. Sleepovers are where you do things with friends, of course."

"I... see. Such as?"

"Stay up too late talking about stupid shit," Angeal put in, far too helpfully. "I can think of a few games, too."

"It sounds to me much like you expect me to be involved in this - which will likely hinder our performance tomorrow - whether I like it or not."

Genesis rolled his eyes, passing over the implication of how  _work_ was far more important than hanging out with anyone in an  _informal_ manner. Let alone the possibility that Sephiroth just didn't think they were friends yet. 

Because it  _had_ to be 'yet'.

"What, you mean you  _don't_ want to get up to stupid shit," and  _why_ was it that it sounded better when Angeal said that? Why? "without people to watch and tell you off?"

The fact that he could  _see_ the moment Sephiroth's eyes lit up with a sort of determination cemented Genesis' feeling that this had been a good idea - after all, he knew what that was like all too well, with the entire world (town) watching your every movement.

...

He's asleep when the phone rings, and he's fairly sure that it's woken several others who're nearby, because they're all cursing at him to shut the damn thing off. They get little enough sleep as it is, and since he's still just a Second, it's not like the call's likely to be  _important_. 

But he answers, and it's Angeal's voice on the other end, and Genesis groans.

_"Genesis?"_

"Do you have  _any idea_ what the time is over here? It. It isn't even that much of a difference. What are  _you_ doing up this late?"

_"I... need help."_

The simple admission, those three words, is enough to jolt him awake - or at least, more awake than he had been - because since when did  _Angeal_ ask for  _help?_  

"What? What's going on?"

_"I got - asked out by a girl."_

"Congratulations."

_"Thanks a lot. I can't- I mean, I don't even know her!"_

"Then think of this as an  _opportunity to."_

_"I don't know what to do? I don't do dates. I can't- help?"_

"Take a tour of Midgar? If you take her to see LOVELESS, I'll foot the bill as long as you promise to sit through to the end and tell me everything."

_"...I don't know how this works for you so often. You're awful."_

"Must be my-" he yawned, exhaustion kicking back in now that he didn't have a feeling that Angeal's life was somehow in danger. Or that he'd have to lead the entire squadron back to Midgar to retake the capital. Although the last bit might have had something to it, brought him some recognition and that  _hero_ title he'd been after so much. "-natural charisma. Or something."

_"You're officially the worst friend ever."_

He grunted, disconnected, and rolled over. If he was already 'worst friend ever' level, then a disconnected call at a Goddess-forsaken hour wouldn't make that much difference.

...

"Hey! Hands off."

Denzel backed off, and Genesis wasn't sure how much was his words or how much was the way the boy's fingers were now waving in the air to cool them down again.

The trays that were coming out of Seventh Heaven's oven - which he was using purely because the one in his own apartment was that much smaller - each held a number of small pastries, with apple fillings and latticed coverings.

They were finally done. None of them looked perfect, of course, with many of them leaking, some being larger or smaller than the others, and most of them looking vaguely lopsided. But they did all at least look edible.

"I... didn't know you baked?"

He turned to Tifa, caught between being affronted at the insinuation that he somehow _couldn't_ , and startled at the fact that- was that  _pride_ he saw in among the confusion and amusement there on her face?

"Angeal's mother used to," he explained. "When we were children, I would spend more time with them than with my own parents, really. So I picked a few things up- they're still hot, you know," he added lazily, not nearly as worried when it was Cloud reaching out to grab, because SOLDIER enhancements meant you were less likely to burn you fingers, and more likely to heal fast enough to enjoy the next one. Or be forced to take a few minutes out while they actually cooled.

And three... two... one...

"Mmph-  _ow._ "

"He did tell you," Tifa said, shaking her head. "Really, sometimes you're such a kid yourself, Cloud."

"It's the sauce," Genesis said helpfully. "It retains heat long after the pastry itself has started to cool."

It's the image of Cloud - almost unflappable, so damn cool and strong Cloud - flapping his own hand and making faces as he struggles to cool his mouth down that sets Denzel off laughing.

Angeal had always been the better cook, of the two of them. Genesis had preferred not to put the effort in after a while, partially because it took so much patience, so much practice, so much effort and it so often didn't look perfectly right first time.

But he remembered, and it wasn't so much about presentation as it was about... something else.

"You've got to do these again when Marlene gets back from her trip with Barret," Tifa says, once they've cooled down some and she's halfway through her second. 

Cloud nods, and then so does Denzel.

They aren't made with Banora Whites; the orchards are up and running again, the trees having regrown over the years enough for it to be viable, but they're still hard to come by, still too expensive for a small place like Seventh Heaven in Edge to get ahold of them like that, even if they did technically all belong to Genesis in the first place, now.

They aren't the dumbapple pastries Gillian used to make, but he thinks she might be proud of him for them regardless.

 


End file.
